French Chocolate Silk Pie

I have this book called “The Lost Art of Pie Making.” The book starts out with American woman’s love of pie baking in the old days. But then, “Along came the 60s and 1970s. Stampedes of liberated housewives traded in their aprons and rolling pins for psychedelic colored muumuus..and what did they leave in their wake? Wiggly red and green ‘jello’ and artificial whipped topping squatting in store bought pie crusts! Theses were bad times indeed…”

Fortunately, ugly tie-dye shirts are out and homemade pies are in! There is even a story about a modern young lady who set a freshly baked pie to cool on her college dorm window. The aromatic scent and sweet vision of baked berries and pastry lured a young guy, where he asked “What do I have to do to get that pie?” He studied massage therapy, so naturally she traded her pie for a massage. Two-hour massage.

Well.

I put this pie by my window, took some snapshots, and no one came along offering to trade a massage for my pie. Nevermind that I live on the 6th floor with no balcony so no one would walk by my window. And nevermind the pie is cold and doesn’t really have the strong scent tendrils of a baked berry pie. Can I still fantasize about Thor or Ironman swooping on in? They can fly… No? Fine, I’ll pay for my massage. I didn’t want to share this French silk pie with some window creeper anyway.

Yah. It’s THAT good. Rich decadent chocolate heaven. And made with the good stuff! Avocado, coconuts, chocolate! No guilt whatsoever. Chocolate is totally guilt free in my book.

Avocado? That’s right. Traditional chocolate silk pies are made by whipping a lot of eggs with butter or cream and cocoa powder. Eggs are a pain for this. I used avocados in place of the eggs because they whip very nicely and give a silky smooth texture. Egg free yay! Chocolate, cocoa, and the sugars masque any avocado flavor, especially if you let it rest until the next day. I used my arrowroot pastry crust from the Pecan Tarts, but, of course, any crust can go well with this pie.

Set aside 2 Tablespoons worth of the butter and place the rest into the flour mixture. Crumble the butter by placing portions of the butter in between your fingers and thumb, then move your thumb across your fingers.

Add the applesauce and egg into the buttered flour.

Mix together with a fork and form into a ball.

Grab a pinch of the remaining arrowroot and dust your working surface.

Place the dough ball in the center of the dusted surface and press flat with your palms.

Add the remaining butter in the middle and fold the dough on top of the butter. Repeat until mostly combined. Butter spots are a good thing.

Cover and place in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Spread some arrowroot powder onto the dough ball.

Sandwich the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper.

Roll into about ⅛" thick.

Remove the top layer of the parchment paper carefully from the dough.

Flip the dough onto the pie pan.

Remove the parchment.

Press the dough into the pie pan and trim excess dough off the sides. Use the excess dough to patch up any breaks.

I made this two days ago and it was gorgeous – still eating it now. Everyone loved it! I used store bought pastry and served with ice cream and berries and that balanced out the sweetness nicely. Cuts best after 24 hours. This is definitely a must make!

Holy Kamolie! This pie is AMAZING!!!! I never comment on recipe sites….but I can’t help myself on this one! So delicious and rich! My chocolate loving soul is singing the Halleluiah course:) I am just doing alot more of the paleo eating and baking. So FUN! You definitely don’t have to miss out on amazing desserts when eating paleo with desserts like this! Thank you for the recipe!

I made this pie today as a test for Thanksgiving. It sat in the fridge for probably 3 hrs or so before I had to cut into it and try it out. It was easy to cut and even to get out of the pan. This is so good! It has a rich chocolatey flavor. I’d definitely call this dessert decadent. I can’t wait to taste it after the flavors blend together even more!

It’s a winner for making for Thanksgiving along with pumpkin, of course!
Thank you for posting it.

Wow, this pie looks amazing! I wanted to make it for Christmas, but I have some apples I need to use so I guess I’m making an apple pie. I wanted to try your crust though. I have a question. The crust recipe says there is more than enough dough. So if I wanted to make a lattice would I have enough or do you think making 1.5x the recipe would be better?